The first time bass guitar magi Colin Edwin and Lorenzo Feliciati combined their talents for Twinscapes (2014), they managed to create a sound all their own. Making music “steeped in a rich complexion and gleaming musicianship that serves the song, not the ego,” these crazy-talented musicians found nothing but simpatico instead of redundancy. Four years later, Edwin and Feliciati recombine to build on the chemistry with Twinscapes Vol. 2: A Modern Approach To The Dancefloor.
Edwin and Feliciati are not the kind of musicians who are content to stay still; as the title makes clear, there’s a new twist this time. Having both come up in the eighties, the two put their creative energies into music that’s rooted in the music of that era. In fact, the leadoff track “Tin Can” might be the most accessible thing Twinscapes has ever done, but the danceable rhythms married to a progressive riff wouldn’t be that far out of place on a Discipline-era King Crimson album. The sound remains unmistakably Edwin and Feliciati.
That track provides assurance that Edwin and Feliciati are intending to explore the 80s’ best tendencies instead of its not-so-good ones. Citing influences of some of the artier new wave bands such as Japan, Ultravox and Human League, the Twinscapes guys run them through a fusion/prog strainer, coming up with music with both grooves and complexity. Providing rhythms both straight-ahead and twisting is the third member of Twinscapes, drummer Roberto Gualdi.
There are plenty of ways the trio induces movement. Based on a deceptively simple piano-led pattern, “Bedroom Corner” grooves with a slither. “The (Next) Level Think” is another great simmering groove, paced by Edwin’s lyrically rich fretless bass. Gualdi’s third world drums and percussion on “Precipice” throws off echoes of late-period Weather Report.
All throughout, Edwin and Feliciati leverage their abilities to architect mesmerizing sonorities with and without the bass. Edwin’s ebow produces some otherworldly vibrations during “In a Haze.” Feliciati creates a waterfall of distorted and ambient sounds from his guitar effects for “In a Daze.” Feliciati’s guitars are prominent on “Future Echo,” but ultimately, the dual bass attack rules supreme.
Another thing new they try is vocals…not just any vocals but those of the Gregorian chant variety for “Severing Suns.” The exotica quality of the soundscape they make fits hand in glove in with the murmur of four centuries earlier, mainly because Edwin’s vocal-like bass forms the bridge between the two. “Ghosts of Tangier” is a Gualdi feature, the drummer set against a spacious backdrop.
Twinscapes Vol. 2: A Modern Approach To The Dancefloor is now out, courtesy of Rare Noise Records.
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